Lata Mangeshkar inaugurates Music Academy near Pune

Songstress Lata Mangeshkar inaugurated the Vishwashanti Sangeet Kala Academy, a new-age global centre for music run by the MIT group on Thursday. Located in Rajbaug, Loni Kalbhor, the Academy offers courses in music and musical instruments. In the beginning, Lata didi, as she is dearly known as, mesmerized the gathering by singing the Gayatri mantra before cutting the ribbon to declare the institute open. She was accompanied by Mohan Dharia, Pandit Hridaynath Mangeshkar, Usha Mangeshkar, Meena Khadilkar, sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Babasaheb Purandare, Zia Fariduddin Dagar, Annasaheb Dange and Karve Guruji. Prof. Vishwanath Karad, Founder and President of the MIT Group of institute fondly recollected, “Actor Raj Kapoor was definitive that Rajbagh his treasured land will only be given to MIT for setting up a education centre and what better way than to have Lata Mangeshkar render her support and expert mentorship to the students of VSKA.” In addition to Indian instruments, students of the Academy can learn musical instruments from 160 countries. Classes, which are open to students as young as seven years, are expected to begin from the first week of August. Said Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, “I am a small member of Mangeshkar family. The very soul of this family is music. There was a need for such kind of international institution of music. I hope that this academy will fulfill this need and offer a great contribution in the field of music.” Adinath Mangeshkar, the secretary general of the new institution, described music as "the pinnacle of spirituality". Offering a glimpse of the courses to be offered by the Academy, Mangeshkar said that its objective was to help in the conservation and propagation of Indian music. “Students here are offered the learnings in the age old guru-shishya environment.” averred Adinath Mangeshkar, Secretary General.“It offers a great environment which meets global learnings from 160 countries from classical Indian to western music. Even the architecture of the building is inspiring enough. The seven domes of the Academy denotes the seven ragas of Indian Classical Music,” he added. MIT group of institutes executive director Mangesh Karad, who has not only conceptualized but also designed the architecture of the Academy, said it was the fulfillment of Raj Kapoor's dream that an educational institute be set up on the land where he had shot many of his films.